


Now that it's over

by cyren2132



Category: Jurassic Park (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Nightmares, Trick or Treat 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-22 22:08:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12491848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyren2132/pseuds/cyren2132
Summary: Alan escaped the island, but he can't escape its memory.





	Now that it's over

**Author's Note:**

  * For [turtlebook](https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtlebook/gifts).



Alan woke with a jolt. It was getting to be a familiar sensation the way the raptors’ call and the T-Rex’s roar faded and the softness of his bed replaced memories of wood and concrete as he brain caught up with his body.

 _Just a nightmare_ he thought to himself as his eyes blinked open and his muscles began to relax. _Nothing to be surprised or ashamed of given everything we survived on that island._

Gently, he shifted his body to face Ellie. She was still fast asleep, and he carefully untangled himself from their blankets, careful not to disturb her as he got out of bed and padded to the kitchen.

He poured himself a tall glass of water, drained it in one pull and refilled, sipping more slowly this time around. Briefly he thought about stepping out onto the back porch, but a glance out the window dissuaded him. The trees were blowing in the wind, and the usually bright, moonlit sky was clouded over. Storm was coming, and Alan had had enough of storms.

Setting his glass on the counter he watched the weather change and tried to ignore the tingling at the back of his neck and arms. He could almost imagine Malcolm sitting at the kitchen table, offering up that ridiculous purr of a laugh before going on about changes in barometric pressure or ions in the air or whatever the hell else he thought would cause slight physiological changes that might trigger his nightmare and current state of mild anxiety.

There was a flash of light in the distance and Alan silently counted the seconds until a great clap of thunder shook the windows and rattled the cabinetry and surely -- _surely --_ was the cause of that circling water in his glass.  It was there, right? He hadn’t imagined it? Alan squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to feel the rain in his face or the mud soaking into his trousers or the ponytail of scared girl tickling his nose and her hot breath against his hand as a T-Rex roared at them.

A pair of arms wrapped around him, but they weren’t a remnant of a memory or a figment of a dream, and Alan unclenched his hands and laid them over Ellie’s as she leaned into him. Her chin rested at his shoulder and she kissed his neck lightly.

“Bad dream?”

He nodded.

“One with the kids?”

“Just after those damned jeeps stopped working.”

He could feel her nod before she reached over and grabbed his water, pulling away and taking a drink. She pulled a package of crackers from a cabinet and somehow managed to hook one pinky around his and guide him to the kitchen table.

“I heard from Lex the other day,” she said casually. “You know she’s taking a college course?”

“College?” Alan replied with a frown as the conversation ate away at his earlier unease. “No, she can’t be old enough for that.”

“Maybe not,” Ellie said around a mouthful of cracker, “but she’s sure smart enough.”

“How about Tim? Do you know what he’s up to?”

“Oh, you know. Just doing like most little boys do: Reading comic books, playing video games, digging around in the dirt.”

Alan smiled and stared at his hands. Though he still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of having children, knowing that the children he knew were okay after everything that had happened lightened his heart significantly.

Ellie knocked her toe against his foot.

“You know, little boys aren’t the only ones who like to play in the dirt.”

Alan sighed.

“You found the paperwork.”

“That’s what happens when you don’t take out the trash,” Ellie said with a gently mocking smile. “Digs in Utah, Venezuela, South Korea. None of them interest you?”

“I don’t know, Ellie,” he said. “I mean look at me. I can barely handle a rainstorm, how in the world am I going to be digging up fossils of those things? Will I even see the bones, or will  just see Hammond’s creatures-” Alan fell into a silence as Ellie’s hand wrapped tightly around his own.

“I think,” she said slowly, “you’re on the way to answering those questions yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you said it yourself,” Ellie answered. “Hammond’s _creatures_ . John Hammond wasn’t making dinosaurs on that island, he was making _things._ Mxing and matching all kinds of other things until he got what he thought he wanted. But when you go out there, you’re not trying to manufacture anything. You’re looking back in time to see the world as it was. You’re looking for truth. And that’s something we never saw on Isla Nublar.” Ellie leaned in closer and held his face in her hands. “Nothing we saw on that island is as real as anything you’ll find in the dirt. And for all we know, InGen got it all wrong.”

“Oh, undoubtedly,” Alan said, shifting in his seat and sitting up straighter. “Do you know...” he had just gotten to his third theory on all of Jurassic Park’s inaccuracies when Ellie burst out laughing. “What?”

“It’s just good to see you so excited about something again.”

Alan smiled and ducked his head while Ellie rose and disappeared into their office, only to reappear a moment later with the information for the three digs Alan had been considering.

“You saved these?”

“Well yeah,” she answered. “They’re recyclable.” She kissed his head and tried to stifle a yawn as he sorted the papers into stacks. “I’m going to back to bed. You coming?”

Alan grabbed her wrist as she passed and pressed his lips into her palm.

“In a minute,” he answered. She nodded and continued on. Alan finished organizing his papers, put his water glass in the sink and the crackers back in the cabinet and spared a glance for the window.

The rain had become a light drizzle, and as Alan turned off the lights and followed Ellie up the stairs, he felt confident the next day would be sunny and bright.


End file.
